An eye-catching tech department attracts customers. Retail data shows that more shoppers look for brick-and-mortar stores to offer an enhanced experience with carefully selected merchandise they can see, feel and touch. One way to capitalize on these trends: Add a curated set of budget-friendly gadgets to your tech department that students can admire and sample.
You don’t need an advanced degree in psychology to find ways your campus store can boost college student wellness during finals. Even a short time in a calming environment can help many students navigate academic challenges at the end of the term. Here’s how you can transform a portion of your campus store into a hub that invites students to take a much-needed break.
Adjunct and part-time faculty make great evangelists for a campus store, because they are responsible for much of the undergraduate teaching on U.S. campuses. A temp-friendly faculty sale event is a fun way to win loyal customers and increase your campus profile.
Western Carolina University Bookstore found a stadium solution in the MBS Microsoft® Mobile Surface Pro POS system. With the Surface Pro, the MBS system becomes a fully portable point of service. This allows the WCU campus store to stock a wider variety of merchandise at its stadium shops, and it streamlines inventory planning. Even better, it lets associates provide a more customer-focused experience for the diverse community of Catamount fans who throng the stadium on game days — including campus VIPs.
College student wellness has become a vital issue for all education stakeholders, including campus stores. Data shows that students experience more stress now than ever. Over two-thirds of college students struggle with mental health issues. Over half report trouble with depression. In addition, students describe feeling burdened by a growing roster of real-world concerns. They worry about paying for college, gun violence, racial injustice, divisive politics and the environment.
Creating opportunity for interpersonal contact is one of the best ways for campus stores to increase faculty engagement. Here, you’ll find a marketing plan template for two kinds of event that are sure to attract teachers, faculty readings and a faculty appreciation night. Events like these can burnish your store’s reputation among faculty and nurture positive word of mouth in the campus community.
If you want to get buy-in for the campus store from faculty, it’s good to know the dos and don’ts of increasing faculty engagement. Set your sights high. Envision the kind of faculty engagement you want for your store, but remember: like any company or cohort, faculty members have their own culture, complete with common taboos.
Excellent campus store faculty relations start with understanding your audience. You need to know as much as you can about the context in which teachers are most likely to receive your communication. Part IV of our Campus Store Faculty Communication Guide includes an illustrated guide to the academic teaching environment, a reference you can use to increase the effectiveness of your faculty message.
Counting faculty members among a campus store’s target markets seems counterintuitive. College store professionals already work hard to coordinate faculty textbook adoptions. Without such efforts, fewer faculty and students would have essential educational materials. Why increase faculty engagement?
Your campus store's business health, adoption rate and value to students depend on increased faculty engagement. For that reason, you must be strategic about writing campus store emails to faculty. It’s essential to invest time and energy in developing an interconnected set of emails that increase engagement. If effective, a powerful message entices readers to open your emails and do what you ask them to do.
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